Education Policy Divergence between England and Wales: "Consumerism & Producerism"

Summary (no more than 500 words) Comparative research into the education policies of England and Wales utilising an adapted new institutionalism framework. Drawing on literature surrounding the marketization of education and private sector involvement in the administration of schools, my research will serve to highlight the differences between the two education systems and provide a methodology for understanding their different policy trajectories with reference to neoliberal ideology (Ball, Apple, et al). In order to understand the divergence between these systems, relevant actors will be identified for interview using the discursive institutionalism framework advanced by Schmidt (Schmidt, 2008, 2011). Semi structured interviews with these actors will then elucidate the variables, which determine the trajectory of policy making. These variables will then allow us to consider whether disparate ideologies distinguish the policy spaces along the 'consumerism-producerism' paradigm alluded to within the literature (Reynolds, 2008). This research will offer seminal exploration of the 2022 Welsh curriculum design, filling a gap in the literature around Welsh policy making as well as contributing a 'home international' comparison (Raffe et al, 1999) and adding to the growing body of work around UK policy design and the marketization of education in the UK.